the premises charged had descended to Evelyn Duke of Kingston, upon the
death of Lord Pierpoint; and that the Castle of Tong had been a long time
uninhabited and Tong Park disparked and inclosed, and that the said duke,
at his own charge, built with brick a strong handsome and convenient
house in Tong, with a room for a library, and stable and hayloft, and
other conveniences, for the habitation of the minister, and had delivered
the books to him and his successors; so that the covenants made by Lord
Pierpoint in respect of the room and library in Tong Castle, and the
stabling and depasturing, were become unnecessary, and the several
annuities granted for enforcing the specific performance thereof should
therefore be repealed; and that the common fields in Tong having been
inclosed and converted into pasture, the revenue of tithes granted to the
minister had been reduced to £12 per annum, but that the duke was
willing, on condition that the said small tithes should be invested in
him and his heirs, to be discharged from the trust; that the said annuity
of £30 should be absolutely and indefeasibly settled and assured to the
said minister and his successors for ever; which, together with the
several annuities of £30, £14, and £6, make £80 per annum. And after
reciting that the said duke and the late Lord Pierpoint had for a long
time paid £4 a year for maintaining a schoolmaster, the said duke for
perpetuating the charily, conveyed a messuage, situated near the west end
of the church, then used as a school-house, in trust, to permit the same
to be occupied as a school for teaching ten poor boys within the parish
of Tong to read, and granted a rent charge of £4 per annum, issuing out
of the manor of Tong, to be paid to the schoolmaster. The library above
mentioned, which is understood to have been augmented by Mr. Peitier, was
removed several years ago to the vestry room.
It appears that shortly after the late Mr. Durant came into the
possession of the estate, the old almshouse and school-house were taken
down, and new ones built by that gentleman on other sites. It is stated
that the old buildings had become too dilapidated to admit of any
effectual repairs, and that Mr. Durant having, under these circumstances,
conceived the idea of erecting new buildings, was induced to select new
situations as better suited for the purpose; and the charity has derived
much advantage from the change. But it is to be observed that no regular
transfer of the new premises was ever made to the trustees, an omission
it appears desirable to supply. In the year 1802, the almshouse having
grown much in need of repair, the sum of £102, from the funds of a
charity to be presently adverted to, was applied to that purpose; since
which time the repairs have been kept up at the expense of the parish,
aided by the voluntary contributions of Mr. Durant. The inmates of the
almshouses each receive £3 quarterly, and occasionally other
benefactions. The ruins of the old hospital are still to be seen.
By an indenture dated 31st May, 1734, it is recited that the sum of £100
was given by the late Lady Harris, for the use of the poor of the parish;
the sum of £200 was likewise bequeathed by Lady Pierpoint, and a sum of
£100 was given by Lewis Peitier, minister of Tong, and party to the said
indenture, making in the whole the sum of £400, which was laid out in the
purchase of certain premises in Albrighton, called the New Lands and the
Hawklees, containing 30A. 3R. 2P., now producing £45 per annum. In 1781
a sale of timber from this farm produced the sum of £100, which in 1802
was applied to the repairs of the almshouse granted by the Duke of
Kingston. In the year 1814 £100 was laid out in the purchase of a
cottage and 1A. 3R. 2P. of land in Horsebrook, which is now let for £10
10s. per annum; the rent of the last mentioned premises is apportioned to
the schoolmaster, who has also £10 from the farm at Albrighton, and £4
from the manor of Tong, making altogether the sum of £24. 10s., with the
additional benefit of a house and garden from the charity of the Duke of
Kingston, in consideration of which the children are taught reading,
writing, and arithmetic, and they are furnished with the necessary books
and clothing from the charity. The master has also £5 per annum for
teaching a Sunday school. The portion of income which is allotted for
general distribution is laid out in the purchase of warm clothing, which
is given to the poor during the winter season.
A feast is held at Tong on the Sunday before St. Matthew’s-day. Mr.
Durant’s agent at the present time is holder of four of the largest farms
in the parish, viz., Tong Park farm, Hubbal farm, Holt farm, and the Mees
farm.
Andrews George, carpenter
Archer Henry, Little White Oak farm
Bennion Owen, Tong farm
Bennion Owen, The Hill farm
Bennion Owen, jun., White Oak farm
Boden John, shoemaker and shopkeeper
Bucknal Richard, farmer and beerhouse
Chipps Mrs. Mary
Cherrington William, wheelwright
Earp William, Lizard Grange farm
Georges The Misses
Harding Rev. George Shipton, M.A., The Rectory
Hempenstall George, Esq., land steward
Higgs William, Offoxey farm
Holder Charles, shoemaker
Hounsom Abraham, farmer, Norton, and deputy land agent
Hufferdine Charles, wheelwright
Humpage Samuel, shoemaker
Icke Thomas, grazier, Vauxhall
Jaundrell John, tailor
Jones William, vict., The Bush Inn, grocer and provision dealer and
farmer
Langford William, nursery and seedsman
Longstaff John, schoolmaster & parish clerk
Milner Thomas, maltster
Page John, vict. and farmer, The Bell
Quantrell Walter, Ruckley Wood
Savage Gilbert Cole, The Knowle farm
Thornycroft Mrs., Tong Lodge
Wilks Samuel, Lizard Grange, corn miller
Worrall William, New Buildings farm, and maltster
WORFIELD
is an extensive parish in a delightful and salubrious part of the county,
watered by the meandering stream of the Worf. The land exhibits
inequalities of surface, and bold swells, which in some instances rise to
a considerable height, from whence most beautiful and varied prospects
over a luxuriant country are seen. The soil is variable, the arable
lands produce good wheat, turnips, and barley, and the meadows and
grazing lands are highly fertile. The farms in most instances are large,
and the houses in general are good residences, with conveniently arranged
out premises. Several ancient dwellings have been taken down, and
handsome villa residences erected in their place. The cottages are for
the most part well built, and in most instances have small allotments of
garden ground. The parish comprises 10,314 acres of land, and at the
census in 1801 had 1,354 inhabitants; 1831, 1,676, and in 1841 there were
357 houses and 1,643 souls. Rateable value, £16,145. 19s. 9d. Thomas
Charlton Whitmore, Esq., M.P., of Apley Park, and William S. Davenport,
Esq., are the principal landowners; the two former, with Mrs. Bache, are
joint lords of the manor. The parish contains the following hamlets or
townships for highway purposes, viz., Ackleton, Allscott, Barnsley,
Bentley, Bromley, Bradney, Burcote, Chesterton, Cranmere, Catstree,
Ewdness, Fenngate, Hilton, Hoccom, Hallon, Hartleberry, Kingslow, Little
Gane, Oldington, Newton, Roughton, Ringleford, Rowley, Stanmore,
Stableford, Swancote, Worfield, Wheel Green, Winscote, and Wyken, which
places are divided into four districts or collections, called north-east
quarter, south-east quarter, north-west quarter, and south-west quarter.
The small and sequestered village of Worfield is pleasantly situated at
the foot of an immense rock of red sand stone, except on the northern
verge where the houses stand on the side of a precipitous acclivity, and
is three and a half miles N.E. from Bridgnorth, eight miles S. from
Shiffnal, and eleven miles S.W. by S. from Wolverhampton. From the
summit of the rock, which is crowned with timber, a most delightful
panoramic view of the surrounding country is seen, the romantic situation
of the village, and the circuitous windings of the Worf adding much to
the picturesque beauty of the scenery. The river Worf is noted for its
fine trout. The land between this place and Claverley stretching as far
as Bridgnorth was the celebrated Morffe Forest, where the inhabitants of
Worfield had common pasture; the king, however, appointed stewards and
rangers to take care of the woods and deer. In the reign of Henry VIII.
the Earl of Shrewsbury was steward or ranger for life with a fee of 4d.
per day. The forest has long been enclosed, and is now covered with
luxuriance and fertility. On the south east side of the Morffe in early
times was an important military station, which may still be traced; the
ground is elevated, and the moat still visible, circumscribing a large
area. THE CHURCH, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient structure of red
sand stone, which has been enlarged and beautified from time to time.
The tower is ornamented with pinnacles, and surmounted with a lofty
spire; it is beautified with a clock, and contains a peal of six musical
bells. The interior has a chaste and beautiful appearance, the side
aisles are separated from the nave by pointed arches rising from
octagonal pillars, the pews are of oak, and upon the gallery at the west
end is a fine toned organ. The pulpit and reading desk are elaborately
carved. Several of the windows are richly adorned with stained glass,
and the altar is of dark oak, exquisitely carved. The chancel is
spacious, and contains memorials to deceased members of some of the
principal families in this locality. A side chapel, separated by a
richly carved oak screen, contains an altar tomb, with two figures in a
recumbent posture, in memory of Sir George Bromley and his lady, dated
1688. Under a canopy of beautiful workmanship are two figures in a
recumbent position, which remembers Sir Edward Bromley, Knight,
chancellor of England, and his wife, dated 1626. There are also many
elegant mural monuments of beautiful design and admirable workmanship, in
memory of the Davenports, Broughtons, Vickers, Marindins, Fletchers,
Masons, Johnsons, and others. In the church-yard are several family
vaults cut in the solid rock. Archdeacon Vickers was entombed in one of
these vaults with much solemnity in May, 1851. The southern entrance to
the church is by an ancient porch, and through a door of remarkable and
curious workmanship. Over the centre of this door are located a swarm of
bees, which tradition states have been there for ages. The living is a
vicarage valued in the king’s book at £16. 15s., in the patronage of
William S. Davenport, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. Cornelius Francis
Broadbent, M.A. The Rev. Henry Cunliffe, M.A., is the officiating
minister. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £288. 10s. Mr.
Davenport, the impropriator of the rectoral tithes, receives £1,745. The
vicarage is an ancient erection a short distance from the church. “The
annals of the church of Worcester assert that King Edward I. gave the
church of Worfield to their prior and convent for the sustenance of three
monks, and for maintaining two wax candles to be kept continually burning
at the feast of St. Wulstan, and for eight days after, and to be daily
lighted at the saying of high mass both at matins and vespers. This was
done in accomplishment of a vow made to St. Wulstan.” There is an
endowed GRAMMAR SCHOOL, which will be found noticed with the charities,
and a NATIONAL SCHOOL for boys and girls—a spacious structure of modern
erection, with residences for the teachers; about sixty boys and fifty
girls attend. It is partly supported by endowment and partly by
subscriptions. DAVENPORT HOUSE is a handsome and spacious mansion of
brick, with stone finishings, the seat of William Sharington Davenport,
Esq., J.P. The situation is delightful, and the extensive park grounds
are richly studded with fine timber, the drives and pleasure grounds are
kept in the most beautiful order, and several of the eminences in the
park are ornamented with sculptured figures.
CHARITIES.—King James I., by his letters patent, dated 1st of May, in the
10th of his reign, in consideration of £5. 4s. paid by Thomas Beech and
Thomas Bradburne, granted to William Lloyd and Thomas Parker, and their
heirs, certain premises in Worfield, Bridgnorth, and Quatford, in trust,
that the yearly proceeds thereof should be employed by the parishioners
towards the maintenance of a school for the instruction of youth in
reading and writing English, and in the accidence and principles of
grammar and the Latin tongue. This is usually called Lloyd and Parker’s
charity, after the names of the original grantees of the crown, but they
appear to have been in fact only the channel through which these premises
were conveyed to the real purchasers, who were Beech and Bradburne.
Besides the rent an annual sum of £9 was received from Mr. Smythe when
the charity commissioners published their report, as interest at 4½ per
cent. on a joint bond from his father and himself for £200, dated
December 13th, 1796, being an accumulation of funds which he held in his
hands as receiver of the rents of this charity. The total income was
£46. 1s., which was applied in a distribution of money to the poor, in
the reparation of the trust premises and schoolhouse, and in paying a
small salary to a schoolmaster. _Thomas Smith_ left a rent charge of
16s. a year, for the instruction of two poor boys to read English.
_William Lewis_, who died about fifty years ago, left £60, the interest
to be applied for educating three boys in Worfield school.
_Thomas Woolley_, in 1609, gave £100 for purchasing lands for the use of
the poor of Worfield, which was laid out in lands at Brierley. Other
premises in Brierley were afterwards purchased by the parish for the sum
of £202. 4s., made up of six different benefactions. Soon after the last
purchase, these properties were combined into one estate. The premises
consist of 17A. 2R. 5P., and produce a yearly rental of £40. In the
course of certain proceedings in chancery respecting this charity in the
year 1808, it appears to have been stated in a valuation on oath before
the master, that the mines lying under these lands were worth £300 per
acre. Of the income, £1. 16s. is paid to the vicar, for preaching
sermons according to the intentions of the donors; £6 to the treasurer of
Lloyd and Parker’s charity; and the rest is distributed to the poor,
according to a list made out by the trustees.
_Thomas Beech_, in 1645, surrendered to the use of his nephew, William
Beech, certain lands in Hilton and Halton, in trust. After the death of
Dorothy, wife of the said Thomas Beech, to pay 12s. 4d. at the feast of
St. Michael, for engrossing the court rolls, and placing them in the
church chest at Worfield; and after the expiration of ninety-nine years,
beginning at the death of the said Dorothy, to pay yearly at the feast of
the Ascension, to the vicar of Worfield 3s., and to the poor of Worfield
10s. The charity commissioners state the land to be vested in Mr. Smythe
and Mr. Hardwick, but there was no evidence to show that these annuities
have ever been paid; and it would appear that forty-two years’ arrears
were then due to the vicar and the poor, as the payment ought to have
commenced in the year 1777.
_William Perry_ charged a loft and half yard of land and a cottage in
Wykem with the payment of 6s. 8d. yearly, on four specified days, to buy
bread for twenty poor people of the parish of Worfield. The premises
afterwards became possessed by Thomas Smith and John Bache, the former
agreeing to pay 2s. 3d. of the said rent-charge, and the other 4s. 5d.
_Dr. William Congreve_, of Broadney, by his will dated 20th October,
1775, reciting that £10 had been left in his hands by his father and
grandfather, the interest to be paid every Good Friday to persons who had
lived servants at Bradney, and that Robert Littleford, his late servant,
had left in his hands £10, the interest to be given yearly, the Sunday
after Midsummer-day, to eight servants who had lived at the least one
year at Bradney. Dr. Congreve charged his lands with the payment of 10s.
and 8s., as the interest of these two sums, which is distributed
according to the donor’s intentions.
_Robert Crudgington_, in 1714, surrendered to the lord of the manor of
Worfield half a yard of land and three parts of a nook of land, in
Newton, on condition that the persons in possession should pay out of the
rents 20s. per annum, to be distributed among poor widows or other
necessitous persons inhabiting in the parish of Worfield.
_Mr. Bache_, of Chesterton, left £5, the interest to be paid on
New-year’s day to ten poor widows nominated by the heirs of the family.
_Mr. Thomas Bache_ gave £10, and directed the interest to be applied in
the same manner. The interest of these two sums is now distributed by
the representatives of Mr. Bache. There is no document respecting these
benefactions, but they are considered as charged generally on the family
estate.
_Thomas Devey_, in 1725, surrendered a croft to the use of his heirs,
subject to the payment of 10s. yearly, which he directed to be
distributed among poor widows of this parish. This seems to be the gift
mentioned on the benefaction table, as a legacy of Mrs. Elizabeth Devey.
_Thomas Smith_, in 1726, charged two pieces of land called Uphill and
Downhill, and the Fen lands with the payment of 30s. per annum, 16s.
thereof to be paid to the schoolmaster of Worfield, and 14s. to be
divided among seven poor persons, to be nominated by the possessors of
the land.
_Mrs. Mary Dolman_ left by will £40, the interest of £20 thereof to be
given among the poor of Worfield, and the proceeds from the other £20 to
be applied in buying bibles; one of her executors secured the payment of
40s. per annum on his estate at Ackleton.
_Mrs. Arabella Davenport_, in 1763, bequeathed £200 to the vicar and
churchwardens, in trust, to be laid out in lands, and the rents to be
distributed among poor widows and maidens of this parish. No purchase of
lands has been made with this money, but it is placed in the hands of Mr.
Smythe, and secured on bond dated 9th September, 1809, with lawful
interest at four and a half per cent.
_Mrs. Sarah Mason_, in 1809, gave to the churchwardens of Worfield for
the time being, an annuity of £5, to be divided among poor widows
residing in this parish. The payment is charged upon the freehold and
copyhold estates of the donor, to be paid on the 24th of June and 25th
December, by equal portions.
It is stated on the table of benefactions that _George Bromley_, _Esq._,
gave £120 to charitable uses, £30 of which had been laid out in a
purchase of land at Brexley, and £90 remained in the hands of the
trustees, which was laid out in 1730 in building a workhouse for the use
of the parish.
The following benefactions appear on the tablet in the church, of which
nothing further is now known. £50 given by _William Rowley_ for a
distribution of bread, £5, the gift of _John Beech_, and a legacy of £20
bequeathed by _John Bradburne_.